Okay, Officially Got Lost In Tokyo

Well, Jared and I got lost for the first time since we’ve been here in Tokyo last night. We both dozed off around 09pm — its gets dark at 5pm here, so that is kind of crazy — after getting ready to hit some clubs. By the time we woke up it was 12:45am, so we just figured we would walk down the street, find the first club, and get our night off to a start.

Jared & I at a sashimi restaurant and wine bar in Shibuya

We stopped at this sashimi bar and starting with a few Yebisu beers. Next thing you know our waiter brings us a couple plates and chopsticks, followed by this little dish of what appeared to be onions and seaweed in a light sauce. Not hungry in the slightest, but not wanting to be rude, I tried it and was shocked and amazed at how good it was. We both finished our dishes and before long had a menu in our face… A menu that was entirely in Japanese:

Luckily our waiter spoke a little English, so we just asked for some salmon. Well, let me say to all of you, especially those that doubted my sashimi-eating-ability, that not only did I finish it all but it was fucking good as shit.

Yeah, we had no clue what we were ordering but everything was DELICIOUS!

After that I made the upgrade to whiskey on the rocks (no soda) and knocked back a half-dozen of those while Jared continued with his beers. Eventually we realized it had to be long past 2am but there were still people there, and even new people arriving.

Turns out there is no closing time in Tokyo — they even sell beer/liquor all night, and you can post up in front of the store drinking said beer, if you so have the urge. While some bars may close at 2am or 4am, there are plenty that were open all night.

We left the sashimi bar (¥14,600 worth of damage there, about $160 USD) and headed to the next one, a regular bar like you would find on 6th street. Pounded back a few more drinks there while meeting a couple cool people, before heading back to the streets. Surprisingly by this point it had to be somewhere around 05am because it was getting pretty damn light out. Yet there were still hundreds and hundreds of people walking down the sidewalks and across the roads, knocking back drinks and talking loudly.

Just then Jared and I managed to meet up with two gorgeous Japanese women. The one that I was with would not let go of me, got to love those drunk Japanese girls ha ha! We made sure to get all their information before he and I left, then started our drunken stumble home somewhere around 07 or 08am. Little did we realize that we were about to get horribly lost in Tokyo…

To be fair, we started in the right direction but were on the wrong side of the railroad tracks and totally walked passed Shibuya Station. (Shibuya station is close to our apartment and right in the center of the main area of Tokyo that Jared and I have already explored.) From there things just got worse…but it was so much drunken fun!

Lost and drunk, what a fun combo! You know what makes it better? That’s right, rain!

By the time we had realized we had been walking too far, we started asking people we passed where Shibuya Station was, and turns out we had gone way passed it. After a good hour of walking we managed to find it, then finished up the last few minutes walk to the apartment by stopping at the ol’ beer store.

Once we made it in the door we both passed the fuck out. Out little expedition that started at 01am had turned into an eight hour adventure, complete with some cute Japanese women, lots of drinks, some slamming sashimi, and a few good miles worth of walking.

After all of that we slept all through Saturday and only got up around midnight. But, as I write this Jared is waiting for me to finish and hop in the shower, so we can start out on our Saturday night. More tomorrow, peace!

I feel pretty idiotic when I see it laid out like this…but then again, we were drunk.

[ UPDATE ] Here is an image of the horribly misguided journey we stumbled along trying to find our way home, to our best determination. We pieced it together using the pictures Jared and I took of that night during our drunken wanderings, combined with the subsequent knowledge of the streets that I gained while exploring further in the following months.